


Tick, Tock

by rosettared



Series: Tick, Tock [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 14:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13906206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosettared/pseuds/rosettared
Summary: Adrien gets stood up for an arranged date, and Marinette comes in to save the day.





	Tick, Tock

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

He started to fiddle with the tiny little loose strings of his blue scarf. There were only so many things Adrien could do to pass the time.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

He should have seen this coming the moment he agreed to this. After about eight crossword puzzles, five refills of coffee and ten text messages to her left unread, Adrien should have come to the conclusion that she wasn’t coming.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

He took one deep breath, about four seconds long. Slowly releasing his breath, Adrien still remained patient. He insisted giving his date the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was stuck in traffic. Maybe her car broke down. Maybe she was preoccupied with the ‘presents’ her cats left on her bed when she was asleep.

Again.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

The only reason he had agreed to this ‘date’ was because she wasn’t being particularly cooperative during photo shoots. She would have random little outbursts and swear like a sailor left, right and center. Something must have been putting her off edge for the past two weeks, but it had driven everyone to the brink of madness. Adrien simply wanted to help her out.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

He reread the messages he sent her. There was no ‘seen’ under any of his blue bubbles. He had been hopeful to receive a reply from her, but gave up after forty-five minutes of waiting.

  
He pretended not to notice all the subtle stares the other customers in the little Parisian cafe were giving him. One waitress had come to his table about seven times asking for his order, but Adrien insisted on waiting.

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

After another hour, they started to rise. Adrien could already hear the soft whispers.

“Poor guy”

“Who does she think she is, standing him up?”

“Maybe he shouldn’t give this girl the time of day.”

_Tick, tock. Tick, tock._

He refused to acknowledge them, but it grew a little harder to after the second hour. 11.00 am, his wristwatch read. He could have taken an early morning stroll instead of rushing. He could have taken his time under the warm, relaxing water instead of rushing. Heck, he could have finally finished his half of the History project he had procrastinated on for the past week.  
  
He was about to gulp down the now cooled cup of coffee and be on his way home (and pick up some more camembert; Plagg wouldn’t shut up about it) when his head turned to the cafe door being opened. If it had been anyone else, Adrien would have easily disregarded it.

He knew those ebony pigtails and bluebell eyes anywhere.

Adrien was surprised to see his beautiful classmate walk through the door panting. Marinette took a moment to regain her composure. When blue met green, she cleared her throat and put on a smile. Marinette made her way towards him and, briefly hesitant, slid into the seat across from him.

_Tick, tock._

“I’m so sorry, Adrien!” She said, just loud enough for everyone in the cafe to pick up. “Something came up at the bakery, and Dad wouldn’t let me leave the house until we had the ovens fixed! I hope you weren’t waiting long!”

Adrien crooked an eyebrow. At her apology, the other customers shook their heads in disappointment but otherwise continued to mind their business. Marinette was certainly not who he was expecting, but he wasn’t complaining.

She leaned forward and beckoned him to follow. He was close enough to her that he could count the number of freckles that dusted across her nose. He also took note of this odd shine in her eyes when she glanced at the blue fabric around his neck.

It upset him how quickly that shine dimmed just before she opened her mouth to speak.

_Tick, tock._

“Look,” Marinette dropped to a whisper, only for his ears to hear. “I’ve been in and out of the bakery all morning and you’ve been here every time I glance through the window. You’ve been here for far too long. Whoever it is you’ve been waiting for, she’s a nitwit for standing you up. Just play along.” She leaned back into her seat and raised her arm for the menu.

_Tick…_

At that moment, he felt time come to a blurry pause.

He knew Marinette was incomprehensibly thoughtful of her friends, but he had never been the one on the receiving end. He couldn’t count on one hand the many times she had stood up to Chloe for them. He had seen her listen to and do her absolute best to fulfil their requests as class representative. She gave up her place for Max to compete in the Ultimate Mecha Strike III Tournament (well, Adrien _did_ give her his place, given she was far better than him anyway, but that’s beside the point.)

He smiled at her; not one of his modelling smiles, but one of genuine gratitude and admiration for this girl. He could feel his face warm up from under his cheeks. Marinette returned his with a shy one and lowered her head from his sight before skimming through the menu. He could have sworn her cheeks were reddening.

Why was _she_ blushing too?

After what happened over his first day of school, he tried to take opportunities to impress her or get her to laugh or make her smile. _Anything_ for her to have a better impression of him. He was sure Chat Noir impressed her when Ladybug left her under his watch the day with that Evillustrator akuma, but Adrien didn’t. He was downright determined to fix that.

Time stood still as Adrien and Marinette talked each other’s ears off over brunch. They long cleaned their plates but didn’t find it in themselves to leave. They spoke about anything and everything; another of Alya’s shenanigans for the Ladyblog, Kim and Alix’s latest bet, why he was there to start with. They were both shushed a few times for laughing so absurdly loud and bothered the other customers. They retreated to a fit of giggles every time.

He couldn’t ignore that every time she talked to him about her passions and dreams and latest creations, she brightened up the whole room. Adrien envied that she had a vision of her future that she was so driven to achieve. He loved that her zeal accentuated her features nicely and gave her the beauty no one else had. He was a lucky guy to have brought out this side of her.  
He wanted to see it more often.

It was almost two in the afternoon when they finally called for the bill. They left hand-in-hand to keep up the charade and Marinette was the first to let go once they were out of sight. They took the long route towards the bakery; along the Seine, past the Grand Paris hotel and through the park. He dared throw a pun or two in their conversation and welcomed each slap on the arm they received. He was never going to drop chances again if it meant he would get Marinette’s company.

They eventually stopped in front of the big blue door of her home. “Well, here we are,” Adrien declared.

“Here we are,” Marinette repeated.

They stood in a couple moments of awkward silence, not exactly wanting to part just yet. He felt that his afternoon ended so soon. _C’mon, Agreste_ , he told himself before clearing his throat to break the pause. “Um, I-I-I…” he stammered. Why was he stammering? He cleared his throat again. “-I had a great time with y-you today, Narimette - I mean! Marinette!”

“I did too… I mean, with you, of course,” she smiled.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Why was he nervous? “I b-b-better be.. on my way, I guess? Thank you for saving my butt back there.” He was about to turn around and walk away when he felt her hand on his shoulder. She was looking at her shuffling feet and he saw that Marinette was struggling to get something out of her mouth. As his form of reassurance, he wrapped her hand on his shoulder with his own and smiled down at her.

“Listen, Adrien,” she finally managed and looked up. “How does… how does a movie sound to you?”

She was asking him out? On a real date?

He thought of himself of the absolutely last person she would ask out. Did this mean she completely forgave him for the gum incident?

“I-I mean, it doesn’t have to be right now, but if you want to watch one right now then I wouldn’t mind at all! Of course, I’m sure you’re already so busy at home; what with your fencing and Chinese lessons and piano and modelling and everything! I mean, why would you make time for a silly movie with simple ol’ me?” He was shocked that Marinette had verbal diarrhea. He was quite familiar with her being unable to finish a sentence, not this. “What am I doing? The movie was a stupid idea. I’m sorry I brought it up.” She dropped her hand from his shoulder, but Adrien still held onto it. She realised that he wasn’t about to let go anytime soon.

“We could watch one right now,” Adrien offered. “My schedule had been cleared for the day. I heard there’s that new movie about Ladybug and Chat Noir. It’s supposed to be quite good, but I won’t believe it till I see it.” If he was honest, he knew it was bad and they got almost everything wrong.

“You want to watch _that_?” she snorted. “Well, I could use a good laugh. I’d like to tally all the errors the stupid directors made. Why would they have agreed to that?” He pretended to laugh it off, but he knew why they agreed to it. The only reason they allowed the production of that godforsaken movie is because it was the only way to get the press off their backs for their identities.

Marinette was deep in thought, considering his offer. “Sure, but I’m paying.”

“No, no, no. I’ll pay for the tickets, Marinette.”

“I asked you out, and I’m paying. End of story.” There was no point in arguing with her. Marinette was about as stubborn as Ladybug, he observed.

“Fine, but I’m getting the popcorn.”

“Fine. Race you to the subway?” she challenged.

Finally, all those times chasing Ladybug on the rooftops of Paris had prepared him for this moment. “You’re going down, Pigtails.”

He didn’t win, but seeing her drive to beat him was way worth it. Maybe after today, he was going to see more and more of this side of her.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my very first contribution to the ML Fandom back in late 2016, and I was overwhelmed by all the positive responses I received. The recognition this one-shot got was absolutely mind-blowing and everyday for a week I smiled like an idiot just thinking about it. This is also available on my tumblr, rosettared. If you're reading this on AO3, thank you so much!


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